The sum of two numbers is $76$, and their difference is $36$. What are the two numbers?
Let $x$ be the first number, and let $y$ be the second number. The system of equations is: ${x+y = 76}$ ${x-y = 36}$ Solve for $x$ and $y$ using elimination. Add the top and bottom equations together. $ 2x = 112 $ $ x = \dfrac{112}{2} $ ${x = 56}$ Now that you know ${x = 56}$ , plug it back into $ {x+y = 76}$ to find $y$ ${(56)}{ + y = 76}$ ${y = 20}$ You can also plug ${x = 56}$ into $ {x-y = 36}$ and get the same answer for $y$ ${(56)}{ - y = 36}$ ${y = 20}$ Therefore, the larger number is $56$, and the smaller number is $20$.